U.S. Pat. No. 3,709,556 describes a telescoping intravenous solution container pole for swivel attachment to one leg of a hospital stretcher or bed. When not in use, this pole is telescopically collapsed and swiveled underneath the mattress support shown in FIG. 5. The vertical height of the collapsed pole would prevent any substantial lowering of the mattress support, and hence would be unusable with many hospital stretchers and beds which are vertically adjustable.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,704,979 shows an intravenous solution container pole which is pivotally connected to a foot end of a mattress support of a hospital bed. Thus, the pole can swing from a vertical operative position to a horizontal stowage position. This construction had a serious disadvantage in that the pole would scrape against the foot of a sheet covered mattress as it swung between its vertical and horizontal position. This would likely scrape against the sheet causing it to become untucked from a foot end of the mattress.